U.S. Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL)
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
Chicago Alderman James A. Balcer
The Oklahoma Tax Commission
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
The Texas State Legislature
The West Fargo School Board in North Dakota and Principal S.K. Johnson of Orange High School in California
The Administration of Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California
The Virginia Department of Corrections
The Puerto Rico Department of Education
http://www.tjcenter.org/muzzles/muzzle-archive-2010/my favorite one:
For actions that reveal little regard for teaching First Amendment principles, 2010 Jefferson Muzzles go to… the West Fargo School Board in North Dakota and Principal S.K. Johnson of Orange High School in California
The adage ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ has particular relevance in the context of public school administrators. Theirs is a profession that requires a balancing of often competing goals: promote critical thinking while fostering respect for tradition and traditional values, encourage creativity but discourage disruptive behavior, cultivate independence but instill respect for authority. Public school administrators have to address the needs and often competing demands of students, parents, teachers, politicians, taxpayers, the general public, and even the occasional civil liberties organization. Rare is the occasion that administrators’ actions are not criticized by someone. Although this Jefferson Muzzle concededly may be another example of just such criticism, that fact does not diminish the validity of the assessment that the following two incidents reveal an insufficient appreciation of First Amendment principles.
Although the foregoing statement was made a year ago by the Thomas Jefferson Center in awarding a Jefferson Muzzle to two separate public school administrations, it unfortunately applies with equal validity to two more recent incidents. In July 2009, a reported 75 students, parents, teachers, and union officials attended a meeting of the West Fargo School Board in North Dakota. The crowd hoped to persuade the board to reinstate high school English teacher Jeremy Murphy as the faculty advisor to West Fargo High School’s student newspaper, The Packer. The effort met with no success, however, and the school board voted unanimously to hire a new advisor. The previous month, school officials had removed Murphy, citing “a difference in philosophy” over the role of a student newspaper advisor. Murphy said school officials had objected to “negative” content in the newspaper, particularly student-written opinion columns. A May editorial criticized school officials for a lack of student input in recent decisions they had made. “I advise
as a student run publication,” said Murphy. “So the students make the content decisions. My role as advisor is just to help them evaluate the value of what they are reporting.” Although West Fargo school officials found a problem with Murphy’s methodology, it was not a view shared by the Northern Interscholastic Press Association which had recently named The Packer “Best Overall Newspaper” in a state competition.
Although the West Fargo School Board reportedly claimed that the decision to remove Murphy had nothing to do with the newspaper’s content, a number of e-mails obtained under North Dakota’s open records law belie that assertion. In the e-mails, West Fargo High School Principal Gary Clark wrote he was apprehensive about “loaded questions” that student journalists were asking while reporting on a story about the school district’s move to block scheduling. Clark wrote he felt the “controversial” topic could “harm our relations in the district.” The principal went on to write, “These are issues that need to be kept private with our staff. There (sic) are not issues for the ears of students or parents and community.”
Shortly before the forgoing incident occurred in North Dakota, some 1800 miles away Principal S.K. Johnson of Orange High School in California confiscated and thereby prevented the scheduled distribution of all 300 copies of PULP, a literary magazine that served as the final project for the school’s advanced journalism class. “It was not an easy decision,” said Johnson, “but we have an image of the school that I want to uphold.” Contrary to Johnson’s image of the school was the magazine’s feature story on the popularity of tattoos, with quotes from students who had tattoos. The magazine’s cover featured an image of a man’s back tattooed with Old English letters and a picture of the school’s mascot, a panther. In addition to believing the magazine “romanticized” tattoos, Johnson felt the cover promoted gang life and could send the message that Orange High School was a “gangster school.” Johnson also objected to an unrelated article listing 10 things students should do before graduating. Included in the article were such suggestions as skipping class and swimming in the school’s pool, “clothing optional.” PULP editors offered to remove the “10 things to do” article but the principal cited the cover and corresponding story as unsuitable for the school environment.
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